Page 49

Rowen and I sat at the mosaic table in our quarters, picking at the tray of food Thaydril had delivered. The desert air blew in through the balcony, swaying the gauzy curtains against our bare arms.

We had basins of water in the room to wash up with, but how could I use any of that to clean? Not when children were going thirsty.

“We don’t have time for this,” I said, barely able to stomach the flatbreads and dried desert fruits. “Erovos could escape at any moment, and we aren’t prepared.”

“I know, but take in this small victory. You found the desert elves,” Rowen said, brushing a lock of my hair behind my ear. “Yesterday, that felt impossible.”

“I know, but I feel like nothing is happening fast enough,” I admitted, biting into a cactus berry. My hand froze at my mouth as our door slowly opened. Rowen and I exchanged looks, our hands instinctively reaching for our weapons.

We braced ourselves for the worst when Dyani emerged through the threshold .

I let out a relieved breath and loosened my grip on Mithrion. “What are you doing here?”

“Have you tried traveling?”

“Yes, but I can’t do it inside the city.”

Dyani and Rowen exchanged worried glances.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this place,” the warrior said in a low voice.

“Thaydril seems to be out of favor with the new king. The guards were breathing down our necks, and now they are blocking the front entrance.” She handed me a small scroll of paper. “But look what he slipped in my food.”

I unspooled the note and read the elegant calligraphy.

When you come to a dead end,

whisper A’Anhara to the stones

and a way up they will send.

“Dinner and a poem?” I asked skeptically.

Dyani rolled her eyes and snatched the scroll from my hands. “It’s a clue. He also managed to tell us which room is Rayal’s.”

“It faces the sunrise,” I remembered, perking up.

“And there will be birds,” Rowen added, keeping his voice quiet. “Her balcony will most likely have an aviary.”

“Exactly,” Dyani said, resting her hand on her hip. “It must have something to do with their mastery over stone.”

I jolted upright. “We can meet with the princess tonight!” Thaydril had given us clues to find Rayal, and though my heart leaped, a seed of worry took root. If the princess was out of favor with the king, how could she help convince him to join our war?

“How? The door is guarded. Remember?”

I glanced over my shoulder. “Yes, but the balcony’s not.”

“All right,” the warrior said as she grabbed a dried fruit and plopped it in her mouth. “Let’s go.”

“What about Maddock?” I asked, grabbing my boots to put them back on .

Dyani huffed a laugh. “I just checked on him. He’s out and snoring like a baby. Plus, this mission requires a light touch, not a bumbling oaf. I think it would be best if you and I went alone.”

I shot a glance at Rowen, who looked deep in thought. “What do you think?” I asked, tying up the laces to my boots.

“If you think I’m going to let you?—”

“Let her?” Dyani snapped before he could finish his sentence, her tone feral. “She doesn’t need your permission. Nor do I need a whole lecture about keeping her safe. You know I’ve got her.”

“If you’d let me finish,” Rowen said, resting his palm on his knee, his posture relaxed in front of the predator before him. “I was going to say: if you think I’m going to let you have all the fun, you’re sorely mistaken. I know you are both quite capable of taking care of yourselves.”

I laughed as I adjusted Mithrion.

My soul flame continued, “I think it’s a good idea. Though waiting for you will drive me mad. I’ll gather more information and map out the city while you two ladies handle things.”

Dyani stared blankly, struck silent for perhaps the first time. Her shocked stare made me laugh again.

She blinked a few times and said, “That’s actually a good idea, Damascus.”

“I know.” He smiled. “Now, am I allowed to say be careful?”

“No, that’s for me to say,” I teased as I kissed him, placing my hand on his rugged jaw.

Dyani groaned in disgust. “Can you not?”

Rowen ignored her gripe and grabbed the collar of my vest, pulling me closer toward him. “Seriously, be careful,” he said as he kissed me again.

“I will,” I replied, my heart lurching. I would be careful—at least for tonight .

I hadn’t forgotten what Indrasyl asked of me. It was written in the stars for me to give my life.

But I refused for that to be true. To reject the heavens wasn’t something that could be done quietly or cautiously. It would have to be bold, precise, and loud. I would have to grab the heavens by the horns, shake the sky with all my might, and rearrange the stars.

We stood at the balcony’s edge as Rowen rummaged through his pack for rope. I leaned over the railing, calculating the distance to be at least three stories high.

Dyani’s gaze followed mine, her throat bobbing with a gulp. “On second thought, you can go alone.”

“Are you afraid of heights?” I asked in surprise, taking in her white-knuckled grip on the railing.

“No,” the fierce warrior shot back. “I just don’t like looking down from high places.”

“Right.” I grinned as she shot me a glare that was sharper than steel. “That’s totally different.”

As Rowen wrapped the rope snuggly around my hips, he peered at me through his thick lashes. “We’re getting quite good at this,” he said with a smirk.

I returned his smile, recalling when he’d used a vine to lower me into a well. “I seem to remember promising that if the knot held, we could try it again sometime.”

“There is still time,” he said, his voice low. The desert wind wrapped around us, stirring the loose strands of my hair around my face.

My heart clenched. I knew our time left was fleeting, but I had to stay focused. This was the only way to ensure we got more time together. “Until then,” he continued, “I’ll imagine all the ways I can put these knot-tying abilities to good use.”

“Ew,” Dyani hissed from the darkness. “Not the time!”

I stifled a laugh as Rowen threaded the rope through the carved railing, his hands expertly creating a pulley system. I climbed over the balustrade and held onto the railing from the other side.

“I love you,” I said softly, taking his mouth in a fierce and fleeting kiss.

“I love you, too,” he murmured, his fingers tangling and fisting my hair.

Rowen reluctantly released me and pulled back, planting his stance with the rope in his hands.

I nodded that I was ready, and Rowan gave me slack to walk backward down the wall.

Once my feet hit the sand and I stepped out of the harness, Rowen reeled the harness back up for Dyani.

As he readied the warrior, I glanced around to make sure we hadn’t been spotted.

Thaydril’s comment about a dark night made sense now.

There was no moon. It would be easier to sneak through the city of sandstone.

Moments later, I heard Dyani muttering curses as Rowen lowered her in the night.

She dropped to the sand, and we walked around the mesa, sticking to the darkness as best we could. Our movements were swift when darting through the shadows, and thankfully, we slipped between the patrolling guards without notice.

We faced the palace, scanning the balconies that would embrace the sunrise. My eyesight had improved with my new elven body, and the stars offered just enough visibility to aid my search. “There,” I whispered, pointing to the balcony filled with intricately carved aviaries .

“It had to be the highest one, didn’t it?” Dyani said, crouching low beside me.

The sand muffled our footsteps as we approached the palace made of red rock, but the place was surrounded by Hara’dune soldiers.

Suddenly, a soldier jolted and turned to his companion. “Did you hear that?”

My heart stopped, and I clutched Mithrion’s hilt. We’d wrapped our star blades in ripped curtains so they wouldn’t give away our positions. But how had they heard us?

The other guard nodded and drew his blade.

Me and Dyani made eye contact, a silent conversation that there would be no witnesses to our midnight rendezvous. The other guards drew their scimitars, and in unison the whole line of soldiers took off running in the opposite direction.

Dyani and I exchanged glances as the wall was left unattended. I silently prayed to the spirits that whatever they heard, it wasn’t Rowen.

We approached the smooth wall. “A’Anhara,” I whispered, and suddenly, blocks of stone were pushed from the rock, starting low and rising higher and higher. It was a hidden staircase!

I turned to Dyani in awe, but she looked like she was going to be sick. “What?” I asked. “This is easy.”

“No, it’s not,” she whisper-hissed. “There are no rails.”

“Just don’t look down,” I assured, patting her shoulder.

The staircase was precarious. One wrong step and we would plummet to the sand, but we kept climbing.

We landed silently on Rayal’s balcony, careful not to wake the birds sleeping within the massive aviary. There were many different kinds, all slumbering with their wings tucked comfortably to their bodies. I realized some only had one wing or half a beak, or bandages around their bodies and legs .

The birds appeared to be in rehabilitation.

A few of them rustled their wings as we passed, but for the most part, they remained unbothered as we walked through the billowing curtains.

The scent of jasmine wafted from the room that I prayed was Rayal’s.

When suddenly, Dyani was yanked away from me.

A flash of steel appeared as my companion was whipped around and held at knifepoint.

A familiar face peered over Dyani’s shoulder, her grip firm as she held a letter opener to the warrior’s throat.

“Who are you? And what do you want?” Rayal demanded, her tone sharper than the blade she held. “Make another move, and I’ll slit her throat.”

“Rayal, it’s me—Keira. From the Crypts,” I rushed to say, feeling awful that we had scared her.